[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook: 1971 Session, March - May] Page: 2
This book is part of the collection entitled: The Barbara C. Jordan Archives and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas Southern University.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 4, Section 1
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Thursday, April 1, 1971
THE HOUSTON POST
__THURSDAY, APRIL I. 1971
Status of’Confroversiai
Liberals begin efforts to get Natural Gas Bill Clouded
***** .. ,, , it__J. U..4- rnt/4 “T oan’t show t.h
public to back corporate tax
■M~ . .. t---A^A Tnm Realv of M
BY MARY RICE BROGAN
Chronicle Austin Bureau
Austin—House Speaker Gus
F. Mutscher has told Houston
Rep. Bill T. Swanson to be
By HENRY HOLCOMB
Post State Capital Bureau
AUSTIN — Liberal and
moderate lawmakers plotted
strategy over lunch Wednes-
day, strategy foy a statewide
campaign to draw public
pressure behind their propos-
al to pay for increased state
spending with a new 6 per
cent tax on corporation prof-
About 75 lawmakers attend-
ed the luncheon, hosted by H.
S. (Hank) Brown of Austin,
chairman of the United Labor
Legislative Committee.
They hope to pull off anoth-
er victory like they achieved
two years ago when essentia -
ly this same group waged a
week end campaign that con-
tributed to the public outcry
that forced House aned Sen-
ate leaders to back down on
plans to extend the sales tax
t0irSeSeffort, _ State _Se„
H. S. BROWN
“For the first time in 10
years, the people let their
“We’ve got to get the word
to the people what’s hap-
pening to them,” Wilson said,
“then they will understand
the justice of the corporate
profits tax and the injustice
of taking it out of their hides
through a higher sales tax.”
Bernard Rapopart, a Waco
life insurance executive who
campaigns actively for liberal
causes, told the lawmakers
they have “mistakenly
thought in the past they were
being practical when they lis-
tened to the lobbyists.”
“You ought to be practical
and listen to the people or
many of you will not be back
next year, and you won t de-
serve to be back,” he said.
Roy Evans, secretary-trea-
surer of the Texas AFL-CIO,
said labor will contribute half
of a $25,000 fund for the brief
statewide campaign.
Brown charged the other
side, a group called the Texas
Association of Taxpayers
headed by Tom Sealy of Mid-
land, has $250,000 to spend on
its campaign against a corpo-
rate profits tax.
“Yarn haven’t seen their 16-
inch guns yet,” Brown said,
“but they’ll have their John
Waynes and other con-
servative heroes here for the
battle.”
After lunch the lawmakers
returned to find the capitol
doors locked due to a bomb
threat.
After the building was final-
ly reopened about 2:30 PM,
Sen Bill Moore of Bryan,
chairman of the Senate State
Affairs Committee, which is
holding daily hearings on the
tax issue, canceled the' after-
noon session when less than
half the members showed up.
Sen A. R. Schwartz of Gal-
veston officially filed the six
per cent corporate profits tax
proposal with the committee.
He said it would raise about
$600 million per biennium.
Charles Wilson°of' LuS said! voice be heard.
Smith’s Legislators ask investigation
nominees |{OU8ton detective agency
approved
Post State Capital Bureau
AUSTIN — The Texas Sen-
ate routinely confirmed 51 of
Gov Preston Smith’s ap-
point e e s to state agency
boards and commissions
Wednesday.
Ship Channel
Signed by Governor
chronicle Austin Bureau ceremony in the governoi s
Austin — Bills changing the 0^jce were Fentress Brace-
name of well, chairman of the port com-
to ^strict to the Port'of mission; Port Commissioners
tdi___
Houston Authority and en-
hancing its power over safety
matters were signed by Gov.
Preston Smith.
By Rep. Jim Clark of Hous-
ton, sponsored by Sen. Chet
Brooks of Pasadena in the
Senate, the new laws are
effective immediately.
E. Jack Walton, R. H. Pruitt
and Jim Fonteno and Bill
Whatley, legislative agent for
Houston firefighters.
Also, E. L. King, Clyde Fitz-
gerald, Buddy Raspberry,
Lloyd Allen and Max Men-
doza, presidents of ILA Locals
1351, 1330, 1273, 1530 and 1581;
1001, lOOV, £ _
--Thp measure, signed Paul Drozak, president of Sea-
Wednesday, gives the port au- ija rcrs M*rna 0“™’
thority Power to opJHWP £S5£0fkhe National Cargo
«ran^o“e ottier S« and port safety andRad.
safety measures for ships along visory counci ’Bill' gwanson;
%„etndCrthe biil signing S and Brooks.
Among those confirmed
were Emory E. Gos© Jr of
Houston to the Texas Aero-
nautics Commission; Harry
H. Miller of Baytown, Mrs
Minnie B. Otto of Needville
and Mrs Arnie Fowler Spence
of Houston to the State Board
of Vocational Nurse Exam-
iners; Lee A. Lewis of Hous-
ton to the John F. Kennedy
Memorial Commission.
Dr N. Jay Rogers of Beau-
mont, Dr Nelson F. Waldman
of Houston and Dr Jacob M.
Cohen of Houston to the
Texas Optometry Board; Dr
Everett Dale Wilson of Hunts-
ville to the State Board of Ex-
aminers in the Natural Scien-
ces; Robert N. Aylin of Hous-
ton, Mrs Viola Marie Webb of
El Campo, Adm C. H. Taylor
of Houston and Richard C.
Gusman of Bay City to the
Battleship Texas Commission.
Irving M. Axelrod of Hous-
ton to the State Commission
for the Blind; Dr Thomas M.
Spencer of Pasadena to the
Texas Surplus Property Agen-
cy; and Robert C. Taylor of
Houston and Morris A.
Ruebright of Houston to the
Texas Board of Private De-
tectives, Private Investigators,
Private Patrolmen and Pri-
fce Guard Watrhm«*n
Post State Capital Bureau
AUSTIN — The state’s pri-
v a t e detective regulatory
board will meet here at 9 AM
Friday to consider demands
for investigation of a Houston
private detective agency said
to have been employed by the
Moody Foundation.
T. W. Brown, director of
the Texas Board of Private
Detectives, Private In-
vestigators, Private Patrol-
men, Private Guards and Pri-
vate Managers said the agen-
cy’s seven-member board will
consider complaints from
Port Arthur State Rep Carl
Parker and State Sen A. R.
Schwartz of Galveston.
Meanwhile, Moody Founda-
tion chairman Paul Haas, of
Corpus Christi, declined to re-
spond to allegations made by
Parker in a House personal
privilege speech Tuesday
about the activities of the de-
tective agency.
Haas said Parker’s speech
“referred to matters that
may be involved in lawsuits
to which I am a party” and
“on advice of my attorney, I
must refrain from making
any comments on the matters
contained in or inferred by
that personal privilege
speech.”
Parker demanded -an in-
vestigation by the state board
regulating private detectives
of the activities of Don H.
Martin Associates, a Houston
private detective agency, and
an agency associate, Bryan
R. (Red) Morgan.
Parker claimed the detec-
tives had been hired and paid
by Haas and Moody Founda-
tion trustee S. Marcus Greer
of Houston. He said the detec-
tives committed “shocking
disregard of citizens’ rights”
and possibly violated provi-
sions of the private detective
regulatory law.
Greer denied the detectives
had been hired by him or the
Moody Foundation. He said
they had been “doing some
checking” for Haas, who was
“upset about some of the li-
belous things said about us
and the foundation.”
Martin of the detective
agency declined comment.
Smith signs 2 ship channel bills
,1 _ tt___r'/M,rv+\r-Wnnctnn S
Post State Capital Bureau
AUSTIN — Gov Preston Smith signed into
law too bills dealing with the Houston Stop
Channel Wednesday in a ceremony attend
by a delegation of Houstonians.
The bills, HB 347 and HB 348, change the
name of this Harris County-Houston Ship
Channel Navigation District to Port of Hous-
ton Authority, change the name of its govern-
ing board to the port commission, and give
the authority the responsibility for traffic con-
trol and safety on the ship channel.
Decisive vote switch claimed
for natural gas rate bill
*UQ
Bill Would Validate Uf
Regents' Land Acquisition
■ aaUiipl,
_______________ TT nr:__XT.,11 n„A covprai TJT-Permian Basin,” , Picke
By ART WIESE
Post State Capital Bureau
AUSTIN — Rep Bill T.
Swanson claimed Wednesday
that a member of his House
committee bad been mistak-
enly recorded Tuesday as vot-
ing against a controversial
natural gas rate bill but
that a correction of the vote
gives the measure an ample
margin for passage.
The member, Rep Phil
Cates of Lefors, said he ac-
tually did vote against the
bill through a mix-up, how-
ever, and later asked Swan-
son to have his vote changed.
Chronicle Austin Bureau
Austin — A bill to validate
action by the University of
Texas Board of Regents in ac-
quiring land for the new Uni-
versity of Texas of the Permi-
an Basin is in a House higher
education subcommittee today.
The bill by Rep. Ace Pick-
H. Winston Hull and several UT-Permian Basin, \ Pickens
Midland residents'* seeking to said. v >hoY
enjoin Comptroller Robert S. “None of the individuals.in-
Calvert from paying out state volved lives in Ector County.”
funds for planning the new Pickens said $3 to $4 million
university,” Pickens said. has already been put into the
Pickens said the trial court -•»*«- r !(aaf!
turned the case down, but the
site.
“If
lill SSSS iiS'ES
by the UT regents in accept-
ing land Dec. 12, 1969, for the
university site between Odes-
sa and Midland, which was
strongly opposed by Midland
residents who wanted the
school closer to Midland.
Known as the Scarbrough
tract, the land was contribut-
ed by Houston Endowment
Inc., the Scarborough brothers
—long-time Ector County
ranchers — and other individ-
uals. Ector County residents
acquired additional land to
make up the 600 acres needed.
Pickens said after the re-
gents accepted the land, prob-
lems arose.
“In June, 1969, a law suit
was filed in Travis County by
A hearing has been set on ap-
peal for April 28.
“My personal judgment is
that this is a harassment suit
to delay further planning of
ning may be held up for six
months,” he said..
He said the new university
already faces problems of
planning in order to open by
September, 1973.
CATES’ VOTE was not re-
recorded as “aye” on HB
1018, by Rep Henry Sanchez
of Brownsville, until Wednes-
d a y morning, committee
clerk Bill Breen said.
A controversy continued to
center, meanwhile, on wheth-
er the bill was defeated,
killed by a tie vote, or prop-
erly passed out of the com-
mittee for House floor action.
Swanson first announced
Tuesday that the bill had
passed 8-7. He later cast what
he called the “proxy vote of
Dallas Rep Dick McKissack
for the bill, making the vote
9-7. McKissack was absent
when the roll was called.
Swanson later allowed Rep
Griffith Moore of Dallas to
change his vote, which he
said had been incorrectly
recorded as “aye, to oppos-
ing the bill.
That appeared to create an
8-8 deadlock and defeat for
the bill.
Swanson continued to main-
tain, however, that as far as
he was concerned, the bill
had been approved. Critics,
citing a House rule that pro-
hibits “proxy” voting by ab-
sent members, claimed
McKissack’s vote was voided
and the bill defeated 7-8.
THEN, ON Wednesday
morning, Swanson announced
that Cates’ vote had been
mistakenly recorded in oppo-
sition to the bill and the cor-
rection gave the bill ^ a favor-
able margin of 9-7, including
McKissack’s contested ballot.
Rep Hilary Doran of Del
Rio, a member of the pow-
erful House Rules Committee
that schedules bills for floor
action, he will raise a point of
order in the committee to
‘~w
prevent HB 1018 from being
placed on the House calendar.
Speaker Gus F. Mutscher
said he has asked Swanson to
confer with House Parlia-
mentarian Robert Johnson
about the controversy “and
make sure that the steps fol-
lowed are steps that can be |
defended before the rules |
commitee and on the floor of
the House.”
Swanson said late Wednes-
day, however, that he would
not let his committee reconsi-
der the bill, even if the rules
commiteee sent it back.
“I don’t want the bill
back,” he said. * I’m through
with it.”
HB 1018 would allow the
Texas Railraod Commission
to revise all current contracts
between natural gas pipeline
companies and their custom-
ers, including cities, and pos-
sibly increase rates.
Critics of the measure have
called it an attempt to in-
crease the prifits of its
strongest supporter, Coastal
States Gas Producing Co,
whose pipelines serve Corpus
Christi, San Antonio, Austin
and the Lower Rio Grande
Valley.
Hep. Dill 1. OWaiKSUU umumuv -
prepared to defend his actions mention his desire to change
in reporting out of committee his vote to h
a controversial natural gas incf nr'ir
compact bUI.
Mutcher told Swanson to be
prepared both before the
House Rules .Committee and
on the House floor.
ThSTw^Snat,
rfcl gas companies to ask the to attend to it. . .
during the roll call vote that
he wanted to change his vote
from no to yes.
However, Swanson told the
Chronicle that Cates did not
mention his desire to change
his vote to him until the meet-
ing had adjourned.
Committee Clerk
“I told him to check with
the committee clerk and see
that he was recorded as vot-
ing as he intended,” Swanson
said. “I told him I was leav-
Texas Railroad Commission
lor review and renegotiation
o f long-standing contracts
with cities on gas hates.
’Pushed by Oscar Wyatt of
Corpus Christi, multimillion-
aire head of Coastal State Gas
Producing Co., the bill would
apply to all gas cfipanics. “‘“e N t Permitted
-rifts-rar.
auenu ii.
Oil and gas committee clerk
Bill Green said Cates did not
ask him to change his vote at
the conclusion of the meeting.
It was not until Wednesday
morning that Cates contacted
the clerk and asked that his
vote be switched to yes,
Green said.
7 in committee Tuesday.
Proxy Vote
However, the committee’s
clerk record at the close of
the committee hearing showed
an 8-8 tie, if Rep. Dick Mc-
Kissack’s illegal proxy vote
was thrown out.
House Parliamentarian Rob-
ert Johnson said House rules
specifically forbid proxy votes
nouse ruiea uu 1UJP
change in the roll call vote af-
ter the vote has been taken if
it changes the outcome of the
action.
Members said objection
would certainly have been
raised by opponents if they
had known Cates was trying
to swtich his vote.
Swanson, when questioned
Wednesday on where the tally
mooting showed Rep. Phil Talv Sheet .
Cate of Lefors voting against
t lc 01 T Arrival Reynolds had not received the
Questioned by the Chroncile tally sheet. It was still in ,
—c£T “
sSvS nrg ofSyS^nW tally
Cates said he told Swanstm sheet, Green went and goUt,
but said, “I can’t show this to
anyone until I check with Mr.
Swanson, first.”
Returning, he was about to
give the tally sheet vote when
he was abruptly called from
the floor by a messenger from
Reynolds, who said:
“Jim Reynolds wants to see
you right now. And I mean
immediately.”
Both Voting Yes
After returning from confer-
ring with Reynolds, Green
produced a tally showing both
McKissack and Cates as vot-
ing for the bill.
Swanson said he had Mc-
Kissack’s signed proxy vote in
favor of the bill, and later it
was on that basis that Mc-
Kissack’s vote was recorded.
Swanson got McKissack, who
was chairing a committee
hearing on legislation to im-
plement liquor by the drink,
to appear before the Oil and
Gas Committee and ask to be
recorded as voting yes.
Parliamentarian Johnson
said not only could a proxy
vote not be cast, but that the
member would have had to be
present at the roll call vote.
Status of Bill
Johnson told the Chronicle
that he doubted that the bill
had advanced out of commit-
tee to the House Rules Com-
mittee, which decides whether
a bill should be placed on the
calendar for House debate.
Mutscher asked S^aftson to
meet with Parliamentarian
Johnson to mak|^|# Swan-
son’s actions cafl-%e; defended
before the House Rules Com- j
mittee and on the House floor,
should the bill ever come up
for a vote.
Senate Rejects ^
Austin Nominees
Capitol Staff
The Senate in executive
session Wednesday confirmed 53
of Gov. Preston Smith’s
appointments to 13 state boards
hut, refused to consider
nominations of two Austinites.
Senators coming out of the
closed door session would give
no Reasons why they declined to
action Smith’s appointments of
Mrs-, Anne Clark to the State
Senior Colleges Board of
Regents and Roy Lee Fowler to
the Board of Barber Examiners.
Mirs. Clark is the wife of
Austin banker-lawyer Edward
Clark, prominent Democratic
party leader and ■ former U.S.
ambassador to Australia.
The: governor^, nomination of
Charles Simons of Dallas to the
State Highway Commission,
already the target of open
Senate criticism, was stricken
from the list, before the
executive session started.
Houston, all to the State Board
of Vocational Nurse Examiners;
Barney McCoy Davis of Corpus
Christi to the Board of Regents
of Pan-American College; Joe
Burkett Jr., of Kerrville, to the
Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission; Jay Rogers of
Beaumont, John Davis of
Dallas, Nelson Waldman of
Houston, Jacob Marvin Cohen
of Houston, Salvador S. Mora of
Laredo, Jack Burton of
Cleburne; John Bowen of
Sweetwater, to the Texas
Optometry Board;
Rumsey Strickland of Dallas
and R. L. Thornton of Dallas to
the Board of Regents of Texas
Women’s University;
Paul Witt of Abilene, and
Everett Wilson of Huntsville,
and to the State Board of
Examiners in Basic Sciences;
Robert Norman Aylin of
Houston, Mrs- Viola Webb of El
Campo and Richard Gusman of
Appointments confirmed Bay City to the Battleship
include Dr. Sidney W. Edwards
of San Marcos to the Board of
Basic Sciences ' Examiners;
Thurman Dobbjns of Austin to
the Commission for the Blind;
Willard O. Layne, Jesse M.
Irwin, and Ed- F. Riedel, all of
Austin, to the Texas Surplus
Property Agency
Other confirmations included
Bernard Rapoport of Waco, Lee
'A. Lewis of Houston and George
Ozuna of San Antonio to the
John F. Kennedy Memorial
Commission;'
Lucien Flournoy of Alice, Rex
C. Cauble of Denton and Emory
E. Gozse of Houston to the
Texas Aeronautics Commission;
Robert Wells ' Shirey of
Texas Commission; Irving
Axelrod of Houston to the State
Commission for the Blind;
Clarence Roberson of Fort
Worth, Crady'Hester of Terrell;
Garland Ferguson of
Gladewater, William Hamm of
San Antonio, Thomas Spencer of
Pasadena, and Bill Bitner of
Centerville, all to the Texas
Surplus Property Agency.
Andrew Shelton of Abilene,
Chester Wine of Corpus Christi
and Homer Bryce of Henderson
to the Texas Industrial
Commission; :
And John Lankford Jr., of
Fort Worth, Robert Taylor of
Houston, Captain Bob Crowder
of Dallas, Morris Ruebright of
ffinriTirnirTiT
Baytown," Mrs. Melba Joe
Thomas of Naples, Mrs. Minnie
Otto of Needville, Mrs. Billie Jo
Woodall of Grand Prairie, and
Mrs. Arnice Fowler Spence of
Hillsboro, Harry H. Miller of Houston and George Bichsel of
San Antonio to the Texas Board
of Private Detectives, Private
Investigators, Private
Patrolmen and Private Guarc
Watchmen. L"' —-1
Bill for Uniformity In
Utility Districts Is OK'd
Chronicle Austin Bureau
Austin — The House has
passed a bill to provide uni-
formity in new municipal util-
ity districts..
The bill would enact a new
orocedure for creating munici-
pal utility districts. \
The bil, by Rep. Jo’e Hlen
ongvi'ew, sets out in detail
?dures for the operation
district, including admin-
istrative provisions, powers
and duties, general fiscal
provisions, issuance of bonds,
taxes, adding and excluding
land and consolidating and
dissolving districts.
Supervision and control of the
districts by the Water Rights
Commission and cities in
which a district is located
would be increased.
/
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View 51 pages within this book that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook: 1971 Session, March - May], book, 1971; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616640/m1/4/?q=waco+tornado: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Southern University.